Post Malone
August 26th


1.0
awful

Review

by RaymondPelayo USER (36 Reviews)
May 18th, 2016 | 22 replies


Release Date: 2016 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Post Malone's August 26th is a boring and exhaustive mixtape not worth the listen

While navigating through the comment section on Datpiff, I discovered someone had coined the term bubblegum trap a.k.a. easily reproduced hip-hop with catchy hooks and trend-following lyricism . Such a label is the perfect category for Post Malone’s new mixtape, August 26th. The ten-track project is a long, exhaustive excursion, a commercially slick endeavor disguised as an edgy, artistic narrative of hedonism.

As each track progresses, Post Malone flutters along languid, mellow beats without calling too much attention to any of it. To his credit, Malone does have a knack for writing catchy hooks but despite this aspect, the majority of the songs still feel dull and meandering. Even the guest appearances seem like they are there for filler content, a way to hide the little amount of substance and creativity Malone shows on this record.

Look past the melodic quality of his voice and beat arrangements to find the mind-drifting unoriginality at not just the heart of the mixtape but the whole musical personal that is Post Malone. Contrary to the pretty cool cover artwork, this mixtape is incredibly boring.

By the time Larry June makes his entrance on opener “Never Understand,” interest has already been long diffused making his words seemed scattered, meaningless scribbles rushing at the brain’s dead void.

Even a 2Chainz verse on “Money Made Me Do It” cannot gather enough momentum to pull the listener back in. Even worse, Malone and 2Chainz rap over a Justin Bieber-esque beat, better suited for middle school dances or the last stop on a run through pop radio stations rather than the pre-party vibes they were probably aiming for. “F/ck,’ the Jeremih assisted track is at best a half-formed idea, its repetition lacking any charm or wit. Then there is the horrible flow delivery of Lil Yachty, off-putting to the point that it makes it hard to take the song “Monte” seriously and even more confounding as to why it received the green-light in the first place.

Occasionally the songs seemed forced. Take “40 Funk” as an example. Lines like “40 got me funky” and “Gimme the 40, yeah/ So I can be cool, yeah,” make the song extremely corny, almost laughably so. Malone sounds like he doesn’t fully believe in what he’s rapping about, as if taking vapid narratives about drinking, drug use and partying would somehow translate into a song that would be the kinda track to groove to in your car or played while hanging around some hazy hype-filled environment. His 2-D cutouts of hedonism only make him seem inauthentic. The chopped and screwed vocals at the end of the song don’t help either. It’s like the song is trying a little too hard to fit the mold of what a rap song should sound like in 2016.

Even when Post Malone tries to show his ability to step outside rap confines by using an interpolation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” on his own “Hollywood Dreams Come Down," it backfires. Instead of showing his artistic experimentation, it only highlights his own artistic inability.

It seems like Post Malone is doomed for one-hit wonder status. No where on this project is the entrancing soundscape and oddly somber atmosphere “White Iverson” had promised.

The biggest fault Post Malone shows on this mixtape though is the lack of showmanship and excitement artists like Lil Uzi Vert, whose whole sound has been birthed in the bubblegum trap genre, possess that allow him to get away with rap generics. Wanting to listen to the commercially and easily replicable sounds of artists like that is not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of times they are fun to hear. But why listen to Post Malone when there are more impassioned musicians out there? If you want euphonious vocals over swaying trap beats, why not Raury, certainly he has more emotional depth to his music and lasting quality to hs projects.

No matter how one puts it, August 26th fails to amount to anything worthwhile.



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user ratings (95)
2.5
average


Comments:Add a Comment 
ArsMoriendi
May 18th 2016


41524 Comments


Good review, whoever neg'd this probably just disagreed with your score. Pos'd.

PlasticRadioBand
May 18th 2016


409 Comments


Good review but damn this mixtape is fire tho. By the way, considering what yoy said about the review, a 1 seems way too harsh

SBMike
May 18th 2016


45 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

The tape isn't that bad at all. Tape is actually kind of enjoyable once you get over the fact that it's Post Malone, the guy that everyone loves to hate.

Spacesh1p
May 18th 2016


7716 Comments


Most Palone

RaymondPelayo
May 18th 2016


39 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

@PlasticRadioBand17 yeah true it was probably a little harsh haha but I didn't enjoy it all. And thanks for the feedback even though you disagreed with my thoughts on the mixtape

Hawks
May 18th 2016


93615 Comments


Rules agreed.

Cygnatti
May 18th 2016


36129 Comments


i bet this has jams

Greyvy
May 20th 2016


5866 Comments


hollywood dreams slapz in the whip

Spacesh1p
May 20th 2016


7716 Comments


Check Grotesque, slaps like the howcansheslap?! guy in the whip.

Keyblade
May 20th 2016


30678 Comments


damn he really blew up. white iverson has almost 200M views, this time last year it barely had a milli. this needs to be on spotify so i can hear this tho

furyroad97
May 28th 2016


552 Comments


After White Iverson & Go Flex, I've got no reason to check this thing out. Sorry.

Keyblade
May 28th 2016


30678 Comments


go flex is kinda lame

check his song Too Young

Keyblade
May 28th 2016


30678 Comments


white iverson was lowkey soty last year

Hawks
May 28th 2016


93615 Comments


White Iverson is a fucking banger.

brainmelter
Contributing Reviewer
July 2nd 2016


8416 Comments


I like that one song

Cygnatti
July 2nd 2016


36129 Comments


white iverson is kinda really good actually

iloveyouall
July 2nd 2016


6312 Comments


white iverson was g, but post malone on the whole is pretty lame

Keyblade
July 2nd 2016


30678 Comments


pretty much

Keyblade
September 27th 2016


30678 Comments


eff this dude, bump Nav instead

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuI48V3qSHZvZimYgFNJYJg/videos

TVC15
December 15th 2016


11375 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

This twitter beef between Post and Anthony Fantano omg



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